The 2011 season was the 106th season of competitive

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The season began on 18 March 2011 for

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

, 3 April 2011 for

Adeccoligaen The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are promo ...

, with 2. divisjon and 3. divisjon both starting six days later on 9 April 2011. 2. divisjon and 3. divisjon ended on 22 October 2011 while

ended eight days later on 30 October 2011 and

finished on 27 November 2011.

Events of the season

January

8 January 2011:

Thorbjørn Svenssen Ole Thorbjørn Svenssen (22 April 1924 – 8 January 2011) was a Norwegian association football, footballer, who played a then record 104 international games for Norway national football team, Norway, and captained the side 93 times. He was one o ...

's most capped player with 104 games, dies from a stroke at the age of 86.

August

13 August 2011:

Start Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

beat Adeccoliga side Alta 1–0 and through to the semi-final of 2011 Norwegian Football Cup. 2009 winners Aalesund is heading for another Cup-victory after beating Rosenborg at home. 14 August 2011:

Fredrikstad FK Fredrikstad Fotballklubb (also known as Fredrikstad or FFK) is a Norwegian professional association football, football club from the town of Fredrikstad. With nine league championships and twelve Norwegian Football Cup, Norwegian Cup wins, FFK ...

denies

Ole Gunnar Solskjær Ole Gunnar Solskjær (; born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who currently manages Süper Lig club Beşiktaş. He spent the majority of his playing career with Manchester United and made 67 appea ...

success in the

Norwegian Football Cup The Norwegian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country. The tournament ...

in his first year as a manager in Norway.

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

lost 2–3 at Fredrikstad Stadion after extra time. In

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

, Brann knocked out

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

on penalties shoot-out, with Piotr Leciejewski saving three of Vikings four penalties.

September

2 September 2011: With a late penalty goal from

Mohammed Abdellaoue Mohammed "Moa" Abdellaoue (; born 23 October 1985) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He started his career with Skeid and Vålerenga before moving to Germany where he played for Hannover 96 and VfB Stuttgar ...

won 1–0 against

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, keeping Norway joint top of UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Group H with two matches remaining. 6 September 2011:

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

won 2–0 against Norway in

Parken Parken, currently known as Parken - Connected by 3 for sponsorship reasons, and as Telia Parken (2014–2020), is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium in the Indre Østerbro (''Inner Østerbro'') district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from ...

, after two goals from

Nicklas Bendtner Nicklas Bendtner (; born 16 January 1988) is a Danish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. His preferred position was centre-forward, but he has also played on the Forward ...

. The chances for Drillo's men to reach

UEFA EURO 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

is now very small. 10 September 2011:

Notodden is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Aust-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Notodden. Other population centres include the villages of Bolkesjø, G ...

secured promotion to

1. divisjon The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are promo ...

with six matches left to play, after beating

Førde Førde is a former municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative center was the town of Førde which in 2016 had 10,255 inhabitants. Other villages in Før ...

2–1 in

. 21 September 2011: Brann reach the Cup final after a 2–0 win against

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipal ...

at Fredrikstad Stadion. 21 September 2011: With an unlucky own goal, Haraldur Freyr Guðmundsson sent his old team, Aalesund to the Cup final, two years after they won the Cup in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, after beating

in the other semifinal.

October

2 October 2011:

move closer to the Tippeliga title with a 2–0 win against title challengers

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

, and becomes the first team this season to win at Alfheim Stadion this season. 19 October 2011:

Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2022 ...

took another step towards promotion to

2012 Tippeligaen The 2012 Tippeligaen was the 68th completed season of top division football in Norway. The competition began on 23 March 2012 and ended on 18 November 2012, with a summer break from 28 May to 30 June. Molde were the defending champions, while Høn ...

with a 2–1 win against

Asker Asker (), also called Asker proper (''Askerbygda'' or ''gamle Asker'' in Norwegian), is a district and former Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus, Norway, located approximately 20km southwest of Oslo. From 2020 it is part of the ...

in 1. divisjon, while Tom Nordlie and

Kongsvinger Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Aust ...

ruined Sandefjord's chances for promotion.

Men's football

Promotion and relegation

League season

Tippeligaen

1. divisjon (Adeccoligaen)

2. divisjon (Fair Play-ligaen)

=Group 1

=Group 2

=Group 3

=Group 4

3. divisjon

Norwegian Cup

Final

Women's football

League season

Toppserien

1. divisjon

Norwegian Women's Cup

Final

* Røa 2–2 ( aet) (6–7 on penalties) Stabæk

Men's UEFA competitions

These are the results of the Norwegian teams in European competitions during the 2011 season. (Norwegian team score displayed first) * For group games in Champions League or Europa League, score in home game is displayed
** For group games in Champions League or Europa League, score in away game is displayed

UEFA Women's Champions League

Knockout stage

Round of 32

National teams

Norway men's national football team

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

=Group H

= During this season, the

Norway national football team The Norway national football team (, or informally ''Landslaget'') represents Norway in men's international Association football, football, and is controlled by the Norwegian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Norway. Norwa ...

were to play the last five of their eight scheduled Group H qualifying matches for

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

Friendlies

The

also participated in four friendly matches in 2011.

Norway women's national football team

Managerial changes

Notes and references

{{Norwegian football seasons Seasons in Norwegian football